Ramayana film sets cost crores as gold throne and chariot are hand‑made

Ramayana, directed by Nitesh Tiwari, tops Indian cinema spending with a reported ₹1600 crore budget for Part One. The huge sum largely funds VFX and CGI, but a big share went to real, hand‑built set pieces. Art director Ramesh Andhale told Prabhat Khabar that Ravana’s gold throne required four months of work; a clay prototype was first made, then a fibre structure was covered with 24‑karat gold leaf, bringing the final cost to roughly ₹1 crore. The same team spent three months crafting Surpanakha’s gold‑plated chariot, balancing function and looks, and the prop cost about ₹1.5 crore. These items appear in key scenes – the throne in the sequence where Ravana takes over Lanka, and the chariot in the brief encounter with Rama and Lakshman in Panchavati forest. The film is produced by Namit Malhotra’s Prime Focus Studios together with DNEG and Yash’s Monster Mind Creations, and it features Ranbir Kapoor as Rama, Sai Pallavi as Sita, Yash as Ravana, Ravie Dubey as Lakshman and Sunny Deol as Hanuman. Part One hit theatres worldwide on 5 November 2026, while Part Two is slated for the Diwali holidays of 2028. ## Context This scale of spending shows how Indian studios are betting on high‑tech mythic epics to compete globally, and the use of real gold‑leafed props reflects a push for visual authenticity that audiences expect from blockbuster cinema.